PubConsent, metered on pageviews
PubConsent is Pubtech's CMP, aimed at publishers and marketed on payload size. The pricing is public, which is not universal in this category: from €15/month for up to 250,000 monthly pageviews, no setup fee, scaling automatically with actual pageviews, custom pricing above 20 million monthly views. There's a 30-day trial. At the entry tier that is cheap, and worth saying plainly rather than talking around.
The documentation is concrete too. Pubtech publishes a standard web integration, a GTM integration and a gtag Consent Mode path, and it documents the actual signal mapping — ad_storage to TCF Purpose 1, ad_personalization to TCF Purposes 3 and 4. Consent Mode v2 is described as integrated automatically. If you want to know what the tag will do before you install it, you can find out.
Two things are not in the public materials. The first is a TCF version number: the docs cover purpose mapping without naming the supported TCF version. Google's publisher guidance requires newly generated TC strings to be v2.3 from 1 March 2026, with v2.2 strings only valid if created before that, so the version your CMP emits is a checkable operational fact rather than a detail. Ask for it. The second is any self-hosted or source-available deployment: nothing public documents one, and nothing public documents data residency either.
Conzent vs Pubtech at a glance
| Conzent | Pubtech (PubConsent) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per site, not per view — from a few euros per site per month, with the per-site price falling as sites are added. See current tiers | Per pageview. From €15/month at up to 250,000 monthly pageviews, no setup fee, scaling with actual traffic; custom above 20 million monthly views |
| What happens when you grow | Nothing — no allowance to exceed, no overage rate, no surprise line item | The bill tracks traffic automatically. Predictable in direction, not in amount; above 20 million monthly views it becomes a quote |
| GDPR / IAB TCF / Consent Mode v2 | ✓ GDPR, CCPA & 25+ regional laws ✓ IAB TCF v2.4 ✓ Consent Mode v2 (Basic & Advanced) — all included, every plan | Consent Mode v2 described as automatically integrated · purpose mapping documented (ad_storage → Purpose 1, ad_personalization → Purposes 3 and 4) · TCF supported, version not named in public materials |
| CMS & platform integrations | 6 native integrations: WordPress, Wix, Joomla, Drupal, TYPO3, Umbraco — plus a universal script tag for anything else | Documented paths: standard web install, GTM, and gtag Consent Mode. No published CMS-by-CMS integration list |
| Self-hosted / open source | ✓ Yes — OCI image, Apache 2.0, one-line installer, unlimited sites and pageviews | ✗ Not published — no open-source licence or self-hosted deployment documented |
| EU data residency | ✓ Yes — managed cloud data hosted in Germany; self-hosted, it never leaves your own server | No processor locations or residency options documented publicly |
| Free tier | ✓ Free forever if self-hosted; free trial on managed cloud | No permanent free tier; 30-day free trial, cancellable |
Pubtech figures are taken from its public pricing page, its published CMP profile and its integration documentation, current in 2026. The TCF v2.3 date is from Google's publisher guidance. Vendors change pricing — confirm with Pubtech before switching. See Conzent's current plans.
Where each one is the right call
If you run a single high-traffic property and you're optimising for banner payload and entry cost, PubConsent is a reasonable answer and €15/month is hard to argue with. Publisher-side adtech is what it's built for.
The case for Conzent is two specific things, not a general claim of superiority. One: if you operate several sites, a per-site meter that falls as sites are added produces a different curve than a pageview meter, and for a portfolio it's usually the flatter one. Two: if you want the CMP running on infrastructure you control — for residency, for latency, or because you'd rather not have a third-party script in the consent path — Conzent's core is Apache 2.0, distributed as an OCI image, one-line install, no cap on sites or pageviews, no fee. Neither of those is a feature Pubtech is failing at; they're different design decisions.
Switching from Pubtech? Here's what to expect
Same shape as any CMP migration. Run both scripts in parallel on a staging or low-traffic property, rescan to rebuild categories and the vendor list, verify the TC string version and the Consent Mode signals in GTM preview or the tag assistant before cutover, then swap the production tag and remove the old one. Historical consent records stay with the vendor that collected them and don't transfer — normal for any CMP change, not specific to Pubtech, so expect to start the consent log fresh. Check the trial or renewal boundary before you begin.
What changes technically when you move
The meter stops counting traffic
Conzent prices on site count, not pageviews. There's no allowance, no overage rate and no threshold at which the plan re-quotes, so a traffic spike is an infrastructure event rather than a billing one.
The TCF version is stated
Conzent runs IAB TCF v2.4 on every plan, self-hosted included, with Consent Mode v2 in both Basic and Advanced. No tier gates the framework support, so there's nothing to check against your plan level.
You can hold the deployment
The core is an OCI image under Apache 2.0 with a one-line installer. Run it on your own hardware and the consent data never leaves it; the licence doesn't expire when a contract does.
Frequently asked questions
How much does PubConsent cost?
Public pricing starts at €15/month for up to 250,000 monthly pageviews, with no setup fee, scaling with actual traffic. Above 20 million monthly pageviews it's custom pricing. There's a 30-day trial and no permanent free tier.
Which IAB TCF version does Pubtech support?
Its public materials document purpose mapping but don't name a TCF version. Google's publisher guidance requires newly generated TC strings to be v2.3 from 1 March 2026, so it's worth confirming directly. Conzent runs IAB TCF v2.4 on every plan, including self-hosted.
Can PubConsent be self-hosted?
Nothing public documents an open-source licence or a self-hosted build. Conzent's core is an OCI image under Apache 2.0, installs with one line, and carries no limit on sites or pageviews.
Does Pubtech document data residency?
No processor locations or residency options appear in its public materials. Conzent's managed cloud stores data in Germany; self-hosted, the data stays on your own server.